AP Photo/Andrew Medichini). In this photo taken on Thursday, March 7, 2013 Janice Sevre-Duszynska poses with a banner at the Vatican

Excommunicated female priest Janice Sevre-Duszynska holds a banner that reads "Women Priests are Here" in Rome on March 7, 2013. The American said the idea that only men should decide on the next pope who will rule over both men and women was "a mockery".

A car passes by Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican on March 7, 2013. Vatican observers say that of the 115 cardinal electors who may become pope, none are likely to overturn centuries of ingrained gender bias in the Church.

Image taken by the Vatican Press Office on February 28, 2013 shows Benedict XVI greeting the crowd from Castel Gandolfo near Rome. Benedict XVI cracked down on liberal, "feminist" nuns, but the hope among campaigners now is that the next pope could open the way to dialogue on the role of women in the Church.

Excommunicated female priest Janice Sevre-Duszynska is pictured in Rome on March 7, 2013. "Not hearing the opinions of half of the world is like a slap in the face," she said.

AFP - As Roman Catholic cardinals prepare a secret conclave in the Vatican to choose a new pope, the only woman seen taking part in the preparations has been the seamstress sewing the ceremonial tablecloths.The most important decision in the life of the Church is being taken with one half of the Catholic community either looking on or playing an auxiliary role as the male hierarchy deliberates."Not hearing the opinions of half of the world is like a slap in the face," said Janice Sevre-Duszynska, who was excommunicated by the Vatican after her unofficial ordination as a female priest.Speaking to AFP on the eve of International Women's Day on Friday, the American said the idea that only men should decide on the next pope who will rule over both men and women was "a mockery".Sevre-Duszynska was quickly detained by police for demonstrating at the Vatican in her ceremonial robes, with police saying they wanted to check that she had the "right to wear those vestments".Benedict XVI cracked down on liberal, "feminist" nuns, but the hope among campaigners now is that the next pope could open the way to dialogue on the role of women in the Church -- and possibly even tackle the hot-button issue of women priests.Vatican observers say that of the 115 cardinal electors who may become pope, none are likely to overturn centuries of ingrained gender bias in the Church, which insists women cannot be priests because Jesus Christ's apostles were all men.Neither can they be popes: according to legend, a female pope was elected in the Middle Ages, but was caught out when she gave birth.Once exposed, "Pope Joan" was apparently bound by her feet to a horse tail by outraged cardinals and dragged to death through the streets of Rome.Campaigners say modern-day scandals -- from clerical sex abuse to accusations of fraud at the Vatican bank and bickering in the government -- could be tackled by revolutionising the mediaeval institution and opening its doors to women."We need structural reforms across the board. Women can help bring greater transparency," said theologian Cristiana Simonelli."Their exclusion makes it doubly hard, for example, for the Church to address questions of sexuality and abuse," she said.The conclave to elect Benedict's successor has yet to begin, but many say a voice for women within the Church should be top of the cardinals' list."I feel sorry for the cardinals," said Christine Anderson of the Faith and Praxis association."There must be good men among them but it will be hard for them to make their voices heard within that closed-minded institution," she said."The Vatican is not in touch with reality. It reprimands so-called radical nuns for daring to join the debate on political and social issues but it doesn't realise we have more faith in our little fingers than them," she added.Last year, the US Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) was rebuked for straying too far from Catholic doctrine, and the man tapped to haul them into line was stripped of his post for attempting to reconcile with them.Benedict also denounced Austrian priests who had launched the Pfarrer (Priest) Initiative in 2006 which calls for the clergy to be opened to women to relieve a growing shortages of priests in the increasingly secularised West.Within the Vatican, around 20 percent of employees are women -- secretaries, restorers, archaeologists, journalists -- and they earn the same as their male counterparts according to Gudrun Sailer, author of a book on Vatican women.Under Benedict's reign, the Vatican's official daily L'Osservatore Romano launched a monthly insert entitled "Women, Church, World", and staff writer Lucetta Scaraffia says it debates the unrecognised role of women in the Roman Catholic Church."But the Vatican's highest offices are out of reach, because canonical law means only those who have been ordained can hold them. It's not so much a glass ceiling for women in the Vatican, as a reinforced concrete one," Sailer said.Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the only women involved in the historic ceremony to elect a new pope "are there to serve the cardinals".Sevre-Duszynska and fellow female priests have said they want to set off pink flares at the Vatican when the white smoke appears over the Sistine Chapel to signal that a new pope has been elected in a "Pink Smoke" protest."The current conclave system remains an 'old boys club'," said Erin Saiz Hanna, head of the Women's Ordination Conference, headquartered in Washington."The Vatican's decisions affect a huge amount of women around the globe. It's time they agreed to dialogue with us, to let us speak," she said.

AP Photo/Andrew Medichini). In this photo taken on Thursday, March 7, 2013 Janice Sevre-Duszynska poses with a banner at the Vatican

Vatican brings flowers amid debate on women's role

By By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press – 1 hour ago

VATICAN CITY (AP) — "The Vatican's spokesman came to his press briefing Friday bearing flowers for female journalists to mark International Women's Day. "On behalf of all of us men, congratulations and happy Women's Day!" said a beaming Rev. Federico Lombardi.A heartfelt gesture, to be sure, but one that came a day after an awkward acknowledgement: The upcoming election of the pope will be an all-male affair — except for the women who cook for, clean up after and serve the 115 cardinals who will pick the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, half of them women.Lombardi's admission came when a reporter noted that one of the video clips the Vatican had provided of preparations in the Sistine Chapel featured a woman at a sewing machine, making the skirting for the tables where cardinals will sit. Aside from the seamstress, the reporter inquired, how many women are involved in the conclave process?Lombardi said the total number wouldn't be known until all Vatican personnel involved in the conclave take their oath of secrecy. But he noted that several women work at the Vatican's Santa Marta hotel, where the cardinals will eat and sleep during the conclave, which begins on Tuesday.For many observers, Lombardi's comment was a tacit acknowledgment of what many consider women's second-class status in Catholic Church, despite the fact they take a leading role in staffing Catholic schools, hospitals and other charitable institutions that are the cornerstone of the church's social outreach."It is fine to sew and be a seamstress, but women have much to contribute to the political ... health and well-being of the people on the planet," said Janice Sevre-Duszynska, a member of the Roman Catholic Women Priests movement who says she was ordained a priest in 2008.She and other members of the women's ordination movement, as well as other dissident groups calling for greater participation of women in leadership positions in the church, have descended on Rome to try to have their voices heard in the papal election.Lombardi noted that women's role in the church was discussed Friday during the pre-conclave meetings that cardinals have attended this week to discuss the problems of the church and who should lead it.He didn't provide any details."Bridget Mary's ResponseThe Vatican needs to affirm women priests as one way women are living Gospel equality today. We are no longer second class citizens in our own church.Women Priests are leading the church into its future which is now! Our brothers in the conclave need to affirm women as their partners and equals. I am praying that this conclave will issue in a seismic shift, a "holy shakeup" in our church. Bridget Mary Meehan, arcwpwww.arcwp.orgsofiabmm@aol.com .

VATICAN CITY — "An excommunicated female priest decked out in her liturgical robes was detained by Italian police for demonstrating at the Vatican on Thursday, where she called on the Catholic Church to rethink its policy on ordaining women.Unfurling a red and white banner reading "Women Priests are Here", Janice Sevre-Duszynska said she wanted to draw attention to the lack of a voice for women as cardinals gather at the Vatican to choose former pope Benedict XVI's successor."As the cardinals meet for their conclave to elect the new pope, women are being ordained around the world!" said Sevre-Duszynska, a member of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, decked out in an ivory, handmade alb and green stole."There are already 150 female priests in the world. The people are ready for change," she said in a quick interview with AFP in front of St. Peter's Basilica, before being taken away in a police car.Officers said they were questioning her "right to wear those vestments".Sevre-Duszynska, an American who lives in Kentucky, was ordained by a female bishop and has been leading mass for four years -- though she and all other female priests have been excommunicated by the Vatican."The huge decision as to who will lead the world's Catholics is being made among men alone, which is a mockery. Not hearing the opinions of half of the world is like a slap in the face," she said."Young people are leaving the Church in droves because they refuse to accept women priests. We ask our brother priests to publicly speak out for women priests," she added.Sevre-Duszynska said she didn't have much hope that this conclave would change much for women, but urged supporters to make their voices heard in a bid to influence policy."For a new pope who opens the way to the ordination of female priests, the Holy Spirit would have to appear here herself for the big shake-up. Here's hoping," she said."

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Bridget Mary's Response:

Amen women priests are rocking the Catholic Church ! We are part of the holy shakeup that is now occurring in the Roman Catholic Church. More and more Catholics, including male priests, support women priests. We are shaping open, inclusive communities where all are welcome to receive sacraments. Roman Catholic Women Priests now number over 150 and our communities are growing. We are in Europe, North America and South America. www.arcwp.org, sofiabmm@aol.com

"By the way,
since a valid bishop in the Apostolic Succession ordained a group of Roman
Catholic women priests in 2002, the number of ordained Catholic women has grown
each year over the last 10 years by 33%.In contrast, the number of ordained males grew by a mere %0.06 after
years of declining numbers.Yes, do the
math.Ordained vocations of women are
growing at a 550 times faster rate than those of men despite the pope
excommunicating people, penalizing people, declaring female ordinations the
worst of all sins and saying “it simply cannot happen.”I ask again, who does the pope lead?"

Monday, March 4, 2013

"The obvious question is why any self-respecting feminist would worry about the Pope, the Roman Catholic Church, and its machinations. My simple answer is POWER. Religion is one of the many sources that shape how power is shared (or not) in this world. Feminists need to pay attention to the sharing of power if we think we are going to reshape the world in a more just and egalitarian way. As someone who speaks “Catholic,” indeed as a theologian rooted in the tradition, I think there is a lot of power in the balance at the moment, and I want to see it shared.

The papal transition underway in Rome is a classic example of patriarchy prancing for the world to see live and in color. It is without a doubt the biggest religious news story thus far in the 21st century, and there is not a woman in sight. Think about that in light of the media coverage. Apart from the many women reporters now in Rome, the players in this story are all men, all the time....

Several feminist strategies are important for countering this approach and creating constructive new ways of being church that focus on participation, safety, and accountability. Keep it simple—stop, look, listen—as we say to children when we teach them to cross the street.

STOP the process. There is no reason that the papacy cannot remain vacant for a time. Church history includes examples ofdeadlocked conclaves, lengthy meetings that lasted months unto years. Pope Benedict’s own resignation and subsequent change of conclave rules are evidence of the elasticity of customs and laws.

The current situation of the church is grave: sexual abuse and cover-ups, financial problems, loss of trust and transparency, tawdry sexual conduct, and most importantly, the wholesale exclusion of most members of the community, especially women, from decision-making. Given this gravity, the best solution is simply to call off the conclave. The energies and resources saved can be channeled into envisioning and constructing new, more inclusive ways of being church where safety and accountability are paramount.

LOOK at the facts. Contemplative Catholic spirituality invites “a long loving look at the real.” Despite the pomp and pageantryof the papal transition, institutional Catholicism is in tatters. No amount of white smoke can obscure the corruption and infighting. No Gregorian chant can drown out the cries of those who have been abused. No reading of the Gospel can excuse the oppressive treatment of women and same-sex loving people.

By contrast, small base communities, some parishes, and many religious communities are robust places where sacraments and solidarity are the norm. Groups across the globe work on social justice, education, and health care based on Catholic commitments without institutional connections. The disconnect is profound between hierarchy and laity. Nonetheless, educated, willing, and capable Catholics abound who embrace the responsibility to be church despite the scandalous actions of the leaders.

LISTEN to the Spirit. Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit infuses the world with grace. Rather than watch a new pope emerge fromthe delegates who have been handpicked by the previous two popes, it is time for new ways of organizing and governing the more than one billion members of the Catholic community. Contemporary culture of inclusion and participation demands it, and technology makes it possible.

One new model of church would include a team of people from around the world who represent various and sundry national/regional groups, different styles of worship and ministry, various lifestyles and families, religious and secular people. It would be a democratic assembly of equals, a global network of the people of God, who delegate the fruits of their decisions to ministers whocarry out the will of the body in teaching and preaching, sacraments and social justice, finances and public witness.

For those who are not Catholic, this is a time to stop worrying about charges of anti-Catholicism and join voices with those of Catholic feminists who cry foul on the process and the product of the upcoming conclave. Those who have no stake in Catholicism can be helpful by asking the obvious questions of who is not included, involved, able to minister, make decisions, and otherwise exercise adult faith. There is no need to settle for the answer, “They do this because they are Catholic,” and be told if it is not your tradition to have no voice.

The stakes, when examined in global terms, are simply too high. If religions shape worldviews, then everyone has the right and responsibility to look critically at it and go about the communal task of creating something better."

Monica Kilburn-Smith, a 52-year-old Calgary hospice chaplain and mother of two, is a member of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests group, and was ordained in 2008. “The first priests and bishops in our movement were ordained by male bishops in full communion with Rome, who did this out of their own conviction/conscience that it was wrong for women to be refused this sacrament,” she explains.

Pope John Paul II said that the church has no authority to ordain women, using the argument that the first apostles were all men.

Kilburn-Smith’s St. Brigid of Kildare Catholic Faith Community is growing, she says, with 200 on the mailing list and up to 60 coming to a monthly service held in a United church. By the fall she hopes to say mass twice monthly.

“When women come to mass for the first time and see a woman in vestments and all that represents, on the surface and at deeper levels, it hits them and makes them cry,” says Kilburn-Smith. “It’s not about me; it’s seeing a woman as a person as a representative of God.”

The movement is not just about getting women into the priesthood, but also about a renewed church for the 21st century.

Why not leave the church and join a denomination that ordains women? “To leave women’s voices out just seems wrong,” Kilburn-Smith says.

“If you see something isn’t right, and you feel called in your own faith, why would you go? The Anglican Church changed because women were ordained. It didn’t come from the hierarchy.”

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/mahony-vatican-told-me-attend-conclaveAs one commentator said, if only the cardinals untainted by cover-up of sexual abuse attended conclave, you could have it in a broom closet! In the first thousand years of church's history, the bishops and people helped to elect the bishop of Rome. We need a more open, accountable, Roman Catholic Church that affirms the wisdom of God in the baptized. We the people are the church, not the hierarchy alone! It is time we had a voice in the selection of our leaders, and of course, women should be there! Bridget Mary Meehan, www.arcwp.org